Christmas Edition

It has been a few weeks since I posted on here however I have been hard at work on the tables and have been running so very cold. That’s poker I suppose but after the highs I have experienced it has been a difficult few weeks.

I have now experienced both sides of poker, has it changed my attitude for the game? Not one bit, I still love it and look forward to the next game. What it has done is to confirm that I need to maintain my discipline at the table and also accept that winning is not achievable all the time. I have used the time to look at my mental approach and attitude and it has been beneficial in the long term as I have been playing a greater range of hands in position and during this run I have also looked for more opportunities to play specific players and position. My range of playable cards is now far wider than it has ever been and I have also worked very hard on pot control to ensure the premium hand holdings have been maximized, sure along the way there have been poor decisions and calls however I am taking the positives from this period of time.

I intend to take timed out over Christmas and am going to visit my daughter in Nottingham, she only lives 2 miles away from Dusk Til Dawn however I am not playing as I really need a few days away from the tables.

My first game back after the Christmas break is going to be the monthly deepstack at the G Blackpool on 2nd January 2010. I am going to then focus on the Castle Casino league and also use the time to prepare for the APAT Team Championships in late January at the G Manchester.

http://www.apat.com/wordpress/index.php/category/apat-national-championship/uk-team-championship/

The format for the event will be a 10,000 chip, 160 runner, multi table freezeout, with a 45 minute clock. As with all APAT events, the UK Team Championship will be registration free for members and have a £50 buy in per player. Each team will feature 8 players, kited out in their team colours. Points will be awarded to the top forty finishers to determine the Team Championship.

The 20 teams who will compete for the APAT United Kingdom Team Championship are as follows:-

A World Of Poker
Ace Of Clubs
Amateur Poker Association & Tour
Black Country Poker Club
Blonde Poker
Bristol & South West Meetup - Defending Champions
Chezger
Eat My Stack
FISO
Furness Poker
London Poker Meetup
Newcastle Poker Forum
NI Poker
Poker Player
Punters Lounge
Raise The River
Sky Poker
The Hendon Mob
UK Poker Info
Voyage In Poker

I have been selected to represent A World Of Poker - www.aworldofpoker.com together with other players from the community there. The full team for this event is:

1. Rick "doublebubble" Gilby
2. Dave "Nocash" Garden"
3. Martin "Bigbills" Devlin
4. Ky"the hutch" Hutchinson
5. Paul "Murph" Murphy
6. Phill "flisby" Gilby
7. Anna "pokerb1tch81" Astley
8. John "Little John Hare"

I just want to finish this blog by wishing you all a Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you all at the tables in the New Year.

Post GukPT slump?

Ok so the GukPT is over, I had promised myself a few days off from poker after a heavy week however after cashing in the head hunter I realized that I needed to focus on The Castle league which had started the same week as the GukPT. The league at The Castle has been good to me over the last 2 events, the fields tend to be smaller but I cash on a frequent basis. In addition the real motivation is the end of league Final Table which has yielded a nice pay day on the last 2 leagues (in excess of £3000).

The game on Monday is £15 (2000 chips) with 2 top ups, first top up (4000 chips) second top up (6000 chips), tonight there are 40 players generating a prize pool of just over £1600. My tournament starts in unusual style for me with my chip stack being up and down like a bride’s nightie, I’m usually a grinder who steadily builds chips. I make the break having had my re-buys with a fairly average 7,600 however I know from past experiences that the tournament starts after the break. As with recent games I play solid positional poker and build my stack steadily making the final table without too many scares. I am average in chips and just focus on using every opportunity to take pots down using low risk positional plays, this works well and slowly one by one other players depart the card room. The End result being heads up against James Jones. By this time its 3am and we have both got even chip stacks, a deal is suggested and a chip count is done, (blinds 5,000/10,000) James has 10,000 more than me and takes the top points for the league. A good game for me after the roller coaster of the GukPT, league points in the bag and a nice cash too.

NO RESULTS AVAILABLE ON AWOP

Tuesday evening I play at the ‘G’ in the £30 double chance freeze out. I go out an hour after the break. I use my experiences from the GukPT well and play position well but like all poker players you can’t win / cash every time you sit at the table. I wander down to the cash table and show a nice profit on the evening which covers my poker costs so all is not lost.

Wednesday sees me once more back at the ‘G’ for the £15 two rebuy tournament, 32 players generate a fair prize pot of £1065. Again it is an evening of positional poker looking for opportunities to take pots down. I move to the final table without too many scares and I’m joined there by my good mate Linton Holling. One by one players go until four of us are left, Linton, Lin Han Li, David Doran and myself. Linton and I clash a few times over pots and my chip stack is once more up and down. I have decided I am going to be uber aggressive four handed as I want to bring this into my game at appropriate points rather than being fairly passive. Linton unfortunately goes out in fourth place, a pity as I really enjoy going head to head with him as he is a good player. The positive of his exit is it will allow me to really play aggressive poker against the other players. I have spent the time on the final table looking for reads on the remaining two players and I’m certain I have both players sussed out fairly well.

I only enter pots with a raise during the remainder of this tournament and one several occasions I re-raise pots with air using the information I have gained from the other two. My uber aggressive style pays off in buckets taking down pot after pot to the point where almost every time I am on the big blind I am getting a walk. Heads up following the exit of Lin Han Li against David, it is only his second live event and whilst he has a decent game the heads up only lasts 20 minutes as I have a 6 to 1 chip advantage and get fortunate when I turn a straight of my kicker to a medium king holding.

Wed, 18 Nov 2009
£15 No Limit Texas Holdem With 2 Rebuys
Entries: 32
Prize Pool: £1065
Position Name Prize
1 John David Hare £495
2 David Dorad £300
3 Lin Han Li £160
4 Linton Holling £110

The games on Friday and Saturday I play like a total donk! Worse than this on Friday I let a player get inside my head and allow this to affect my poker. No way is this going to happen again and I will be working very hard on strategies to prevent this in future!

GukPT £100 Head Hunter 15th November 2009

So this was the final tournament of the week in the GukPT and it attracted a field of 134 players. There was a £25 cash bounty on the head of each player, no silly discs, or pieces of paper to collect with each head being a £25 casino cash chip there and then! This was also my final opportunity to cash in a GukPT event and whilst many saw it as a bit of fun at the end of a hard week I went with my game head on.
The tournament started really well for me when I tripped up two consecutive pocket pairs (oh for such cards in the Main Event!) getting paid well in chips both times. I then got my first head when another pair tripped before filling me up on the river. Towards the end of level 3 (90 minutes in) came the biggest hand of the night for me, There was an all in from early position from the short stack on the table, this was then called by one of the larger stacks before another short stack pushed all in. The action folded to me in the High Blind and I looked down to find the ‘Hilton Sisters’ Q,Q. I deliberated what to do due to the action before me and came to the conclusion that I would be very unlucky to have run into A,A & K,K from the two pushes. I considered it carefully and came to the conclusion that it was more likely to be A,K / A,Q or medium pairs due to the previous action on the table which had been in the main loose aggressive due to the players involved and the nature of the event. Also any player holding A,A or K,K would want action not just to take the blinds and dead money in the pot hoping to get it all in good after the flop to take the head hunter prizes. Taking all this into consideration I pushed all in as there was in excess of 8,000 chips in the middle of the table trying to force out the other big stack who could still fold and have a very playable stack. The action moved round past the first player who was all in to the other big stack who clearly had a serious decision to make, he dwelt it up for ages and then announced “there is too much in the middle” and called. His dwell up gave me confidence that he was not holding A,A or K,K as he had previously not taken much time over any decision he made. The cards went on their backs and showed the following:
First All-In – 10,10
Large Stack – K,6 off suit!
Second All-In – 10,10
Me - Q,Q
I could not believe it, 10’s drawing dead except to some exotic straight, only the King or running sixes to worry about. I was a massive favorite to win the hand and did so taking two head hunters and leaving the previous large stack wallowing on a chip and a chair. This pushed my chip stack to in excess of 18,000 with the average at 6,500 plus £75 in cash chips. One more head and I’m free rolling. The forth head followed quickly after when a nice medium pair held against the short stack.
Players were falling like flies in this event and the room echoed to the calls of dealers “lost one” and tables were being split on a regular basis. In the space of 4 levels (2 hours play) the field had gone from 134 down to 52. Players continued to fall on a regular basis however to balance this my cards dried up and so my early large stack became only an average one. Opportunities to get chips into pots were limited as players pushed from earlier position thereby making pushing hands for the later positioned players less attractive, I took the stance, as I have recently that a hand worth raising with becomes not even worth calling with to an earlier raise and therefore I was mucking especially from the small and big blinds.
More tables split and I joined a good mate Linton Holling who was well chipped up, the cash bubble was quickly approaching (13 players) and with this players were pushing with any two cards, Linton, as usual went out to a shocking outdraw, he has to be a player who suffers more bad beats than most players I know, if there is a bad beat to be had then Linton is always on the wrong end of it!
I eventually ran out of steam finishing as the final table bubble in 10th place but collected £150 cash. At least I cashed in one event this week which is more than most of the player who attended this very well supported week can say. It would have been nice to final table and take home a bigger prize but it was not to be.

GukPT Day 2 14 November 2009

Ok so the first objective was achieved, I made Day 2, in fact I made Day 2 in style being in the top 15 in chips! 82 players have made it through to Day Two from the field of 287. I spent yesterday catching up on household chores but by early afternoon I knew I wanted to be back at the ‘G’, not to play but to stay in the zone, I needed to be there not sat at home thinking about what may or may not happen.

This morning I woke having slept really well, I was feeling good and looking forward to unbagging my chips and getting down to business. As usual I followed my routine and has a leisurely morning before a relaxed drive to the ‘G’. I was strange really as I have never played in any tournament of this size yet I felt ‘at home’, totally comfortable. I suppose I went not expecting too much and that I had made Day 2 was an achievement in itself.

We were called into the card room and I found myself of Table 6, the feature table for The nutz.tv.

Table Six

Seat One - John Hare

Seat Two - Gary Brewer

Seat Three - Richard Trigg

Seat Four - Mark Robinson

Seat Five - David Gerald

Seat Six - Kyriacos Dionysiou

Seat Seven - Ben Vinson

Seat Eight - Michael Greco

I spent the first level fairly quiet apart from a hand on my BB (A,J off suit) where I re-popped Ben Vinson only to face a reload for all my chips so I passed. An hour in I find K,K in my small blind and the button (Jonathon Weekes) raises ‘All-In’. I also go ‘All-In’ to isolate and the Big Blind passes. The board comes down Q,J,8,6,8 and I take down a nice pot to move me to 60,000 against Jonathon’s holding of A,7. A few hands later I find A,K off suit and raise it up and get called by Kyriacos Dionysiou (Jack the Greek). The flop comes Ad,6c,2c and all the chips go in with Jack showing Ac,7c, I have him out kicked but he has the re-draw to the flush. No more clubs arrive however the board pairs for a chop pot. Whilst I was pleased to see no more clubs I am a little disappointed that the board paired as this pot had over 100,000 chips in it and it would have doubled me through.

During this session it is carnage with players crashing out almost every hand with 28 players crashing out in the first 2 hours!
During the rest of the session I manage to maintain my chip stack around the 60,000 mark and make the meal break (3 hours in) at 61,500 against the chip average of 63,600.

After the meal break there are only 43 players remaining from the original 82 players. I really go through a spell of being card dead just as the blinds and antes start to bite, I know I need to get busy and manage to pinch a pot here and there by using position. I do have to be careful as each time I am betting into the large stacks on the table from the button, cut off and one before the cut off.

I find pocket 4,s and raise into an unopened pot and the table folds to the small blind (Ben Vinson) who calls and the big blind folds. The flop comes Ac,3c, As and Ben checks. I fire a bet at it and Ben considers this and then re-raises me All-In. I think about the situation and know he does not have the Ace, Ben has been very aggressive all afternoon and would re-raise with any Ace in his small blind as he would with a pocket pair, especially playing out of position against a small stack such as mine. I know my pair is good however I also know that Ben will have some outs, I make the call knowing he is either straight drawing or more likely flushing. Cards go on their backs and he shows 6,7 clubs (4 to the flush), the turn card seals my fate as the 10c hits. I am drawing to 4 cards on the river (2 Aces or 2 4’s) the river card comes a blank 9 and my GukPT Main Event is over as I finish 42nd.

There is one last event to play that is the £100 one day on Sunday. I am entered for this one as well. I will take my experiences of the Main Event into this tournament and will hold my head up high.

Its strange really that I was sat at the tables for 14 hours playing and I have learnt so much about my game in such a short time. Do I have regrets? Not one, I played the best poker of my life and survived far longer than many other far better players did!

I just want to thank all my mates in AWOP who have railed me throughout the Main Event, you know who you are and your support meant loads to me. A special thanks to Brian Clarke for your support and advice.

GukPT Main Event Day 1a 12 November 2009

Ok so it’s the start of the biggest day of my poker life! I get up having slept well and I don’t feel nervous at all which is a good sign. As usual I take my time and do everything slowly and then set off for the ‘G’. I arrive early and manage to park in the car park and wander into the card room and chat to a few off the local guys who, like me, have been living in the place all week!

I manage to grab a word with Brian Clarke (Weebrick) who won this event last year, I am grateful for his advice over the last couple of weeks together with the support from other far more experienced players from the local circuit. Brian asked whether I am nervous and I reply that I am a little by now buy only slightly, he assures me this is good as it will help me focus. Brian’s story inspired me last year and I secretly set myself a goal of one day playing a large tour event such as the GukPT this time last year, so here I am living the dream!

1.50pm all the players are called into the Card Room and I find myself sitting at the same table as Michael Greco, Simon Wolf and several other ‘faces’. Within 20 minutes of the start of the tournament they break our table and I move to Table 3, this is the same table I have busted out of all my previous events this year! During the first level (1 hour clock) I pick up lots of playable hands and attempt to play these however I am out of position and get run all over by other players, that’s what you get when playing out of position! On this table is Adam ‘Clarkatroid’ Clark who as many of you will know is a very strong local player, he raises and I see A,Q, (in position) and this leaves me with only 6,500 chips from my original starting stack of 10,000 and Adam calls. The flop comes Ace high with no flush or straight cards. Adam bets 1200 and I re-raise to 2500, Adam re-raises me putting me ‘All-In’. After careful consideration I fold and show A,Q. Adam later told me he was holding A,K but does not show, was it a good fold?, I’ll never know but I am determined that I will put my chips in not call them off!

The long 1 hour break comes and goes and I have been card dead for the whole of this session and I am basically on life support at 4,000 (chip average in excess of 20,000). I am feeling a little low but this is due to not having cards, I am a little cross at myself for getting involved out of position. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF POSITION! I know I am now in the situation of playing one move poker, fold or all-in, ok this is not a major worry as I am not scared of pushing however through this week I have lost all my 50/50 races!

About 20 minutes in from the break I find 7,7 on my high blind, there are 3 limpers so I stick it ‘All-In’ and get called by one player who shows 2 over cards… off to the races we go! Second card on the flop ‘7’ on a non flushing / straightening board I win my first 50/50 of the week! But still only have 8,000ish chips and the anti’s have now started, I know from experience that these can cripple a short stack. I manage to maintain my chips however all the time as players are being knocked out I am slipping further and further behind the chip average until I find 10,10 in position, there has been a raise from an earlier player and once more I go ‘All-In’. The other players get out of the way and the original raiser calls and turns over A,J. first card out Jack!, followed by King and Queen, the turn brings an eight so I have the gut shot straight draw plus it takes his Ace out of the reckoning as this card would give me the top straight, without realizing it I call out for the Ace saying “give him his Ace”, the river its an ACE! I’ve won another 50/50, the percentages are balancing themselves out over the week. For the first time since the tournament started I have more chips that the 10,000 starting stack! (11,000) Despite this the average stack is still in excess of 24,000 chips so whilst I now have chips to play I need to continue to make progress as the anti’s are continuing to rise with the blinds.

My final table move sees me join one of the chip leaders Alan McLean, other players include Mark Livesey (AWOP qualifier) and Dave ‘El Blondie’ Colclough. Sadly Mark crashes out when he pushes with 7,7 and runs into Alan McLean’s 8,8. This is the key period of play for me as I am now determined to make Day 2 having failed to do this on my previous attempts.



KEY PERIOD

There is less than 2 hour play to go and at last I hit hand after hand, more importantly I start to pick up premium pairs, I take out one of the other short stacks when he fails to find an Ace against my Q,Q ( double’s me through to 24,000), I then re-raise Dave Colclough off a hand leaving him short stacked when I find 10,10 and he folds pre-flop. A succession of suited A,K & AA,QQ in position follow and I take down pot after pot uncontested. Thereby slowly building on my stack and getting me up to average chips. Its my Big Blind and another player pushes ‘All-In’ the players fold to me and I find Ace, Ace. I snap call and the cards go on the backs, the flop comes A,Q, rag, followed by the case Ace on the turn giving me quad Aces! More importantly it also takes my chip stack to in excess if 47,000. Players continue to exit and the main sound in the card room is the call from dealers of ‘lost one’.

Play ends for the day at the end of level 9 ( 9 hours of poker) and a chip count is carried out by the Tournament director, my closing stack is 49,100. A very satisfying day’s poker and I can look forward to day 2 on Saturday. I am rather surprised to find out that I am 5th in chips!

End of Day 1a Chip Counts

Player - Chips

Gerald David - 100,775

Benjamin Vinson - 77,675

Kyriacos Dionysiou - 77,275

Michael Fletcher - 59,300

John Hare - 49,100

Wasim Akhtar - 47,925

Christopher Odonnell - 47,325

Allan Mclean - 46,025

Andrew Seden - 44,350

Michael Taylor - 41,400

Michael Wernick - 40,625

Ganesh Rao - 40,050

Charles Denton - 37,975

Simon Wolf - 37,000

James Keys - 35,850

David Lea - 33,775

Shane Hellyer - 28,050

Adam Clarke - 27,075

Paul Leckey - 25,425

Iwan Jones - 24,875

Paul Gardener - 22,700

Keith Geary - 22,600

Gavin Powell - 21,400

Simon Cawley - 21,075

David Dring - 18,975

Priyan Demel - 18,575

Michael Greco - 18,475

Darren Hickman - 18,050

Reyaaz Mulla - 16,475

Raphael White - 13,350

John Cameron - 12,250

Allan Barnacle - 11,300

GukPT £100 Re-Buy 8 November 2009

I decided to take a shot at this event before the Main Event I will not be able to play any of the other events due to work however I set a budget of £300 for re-buys / add-ons. 88 players entered this event and generated a very healthy prize pool of £21,300.

I drew table 3 and found myself playing with a mixed group of ability and age including one young guy who clearly had little or no live playing experience (online player I suspect). The early play was quiet and the table was passive pre-flop however the limpers would then call re-raises from later position. I saw a few early flops with small to medium pairs however could not trip any of these up. About 30 minutes in I picked up A,Q suited in clubs and raised the pot strongly getting it heads up with another player. The flop came rags and he checked it and folded to my bet. Hands came and went and my stack was getting short so when I picked up 8,8 I shipped my stack of 1800 into a limped pot and took in down without seeing a flop.

I raised from early position with A,K and was called All-In by a player who had fewer chips than me so I made the call and he turned over K,Q only to spike the Q on the flop. Re-buy time and my stack was 3,500, this went to 7,000 when I slow played top two pairs against a bit of a calling station who pushed with K, rag on the river when I had hit K & J for top two. I then lost an All-In from another player when holding A,K to his push with A,9 when he rivered the 9, this took me back to 4,000.

The ante’s started to bite and I went card dead and found my stack down to 2,400 when I picked up 10,10. I pushed all in only to run into Q,Q and I failed to hit one of the two 10’s in the deck going out in 48th place.

This was not the most successful of evenings however at least I have now experienced the GukPT and am looking forward to the Main Event.

5th November 2009 - Fireworks?

I played at the G Blackpool last night in the regular £40 triple chance freezeout event, this has become the ‘game of the week’ for many local players with a maximum of 10500 chips per player with 78 players buying in creating a prize pool of £3120.

From the moment I walked into the casino there was a real buzz about the place, the GukPT starts this weekend and the atmosphere had somehow changed, it was great! As usual I arrived early, this is part of my pre tournament routine, I hate being rushed. It allows me to get my mental state exactly where I want it and this is something that I do before every tournament I play in. Throughout my life I have always been competitive but in a controlled way and this preparation stems from a passage I read, as a teenager, from an interview with Jack Nicklaus. The interviewer commented on how calm Jack remained and asked how he did it, Jack’s reply was so simple but impactive. He said “I do everything slowly from the moment I wake up, I put my socks on slowly, I eat breakfast slowly, I walk slowly, most importantly I have plenty of time to do everything. This allows me to slow down my thought processes and make good decisions through the day”. It works for me too!

OK the game, I drew Table 3 and was joined there by players including Mick ‘schoolbully’ Tetlow, Liam Dennehy, Paul Lucas and Danny Hook, it was a table full of strong players most of whom I know. As with all my recent games I was prepared to grind all evening and focused of good hands played in position. The levels before the break passed without too much incident as far as I was concerned and my chip stack was 9,700, a little below average. I had not seen many good hands but had also not got myself in too much trouble either.

After the break, with the blinds going up, I found myself short stacked (7,600) but I remained focused and was rewarded when I picked up A,A in early position, I ‘min raised’ and to my delight a player in late position went over the top ‘All-In’. The chips went in and he showed Q,Q, my A,A held and I was back in the game. Three hands later I was on 31,000 chips having played the rush of successive big hands then in quick succession I ran into Paul Lucas twice, my 7,7 cracked by his A,K and then my A,K cracked by his middle pair. Back on life support!

Our tabled split and together with Paul Lucas I moved to table 1 where we were once more joined by Danny Hook (who had previously left table 3). On this table, amongst others, were John Garside, Paul ‘Rocky’ Chadwick and Brian ‘Weebrick’ Clarke. By now my chips were almost gone, I had less than 2 big blinds and there were 13 players left in. I knew I only had 3 hands to find a spot before the BB hit me, I looked down and saw K,3 hearts, not a monster but it was good enough so I shoved my pathetic stack over the line knowing that I was going to get called. Immediately Brian Clarke re raised and another player also called this raise. All the others got out of the way and it ended up with all three of us ‘All-In’. The cards on their backs with Brian and the other guy both showing A,K! I was a hugh dog however on the positive the other two hands totally clashed so at least I had the 3 remaining threes! Yup you guessed it, second card on the flop a little 3! For the second time in the evening this escape was followed by a rush of premium hands and I was back in the game at 45,000 chips. Between this and the final table I folded a succession of big Aces, due to being out of position or because an earlier strong player had raised, each time I was proved right, my discipline has really improved so much! 20 minutes later the bubble burst and it was final table time.
Not a lot to report on the final table, I was short stacked with the blinds coming round fast so I shipped it in with A,6 off and picked up a call from John Garside who turned over K,Q and hit his K on the flop so I was out in 9th.

In summary another cash, another strong game played against a good field. I have no complaints about how the evening went.


Thu, 05 Nov 2009
£40 No-Limit Texas Holdem Triple-Chance Freezeout
Entries: 78
Prize Pool: £3120
Position Name Prize
1 Gary Orchard £1070
2 Brian Kelly £620
3 Anon £440
4 kevin Rigby £280
5 Paul Lucas £200
6 Anon £160
7 Daniel Hook £140
8 John Garside £120
9 John Hare £90

GukPT Satellite 4th November 2009

Its 3.45am I have just got home from playing in the final satellite for AWOP members for one of four seats in the forthcoming GukPT Main Event in Blackpool. Eighteen players started the final with it being streamed live via The Nutz tv. The structure of the game was 10,000 chips with the blinds starting at 50/100 and a 25 minute clock. The players who qualified, or bought directly in were:

Brian ‘weebrick’ Clarke
Mick ‘schoolbully’ Tetlow
Linton Holling
Carl Pickles
John ‘The Viper’ Prescott
Ky Hutchinson
John Hare
Will McMurray
Tim France
Paul Murphy
Paul ‘swampy’ Gardner
Joe Egerton
John ‘riverasusual’ Millar
Dave Jackson
Mick Fletcher
Chris Michael
Pete Mason
Rob Bright

The game started slowly for me and I lost a succession of hands early on and I found my chip stack had dwindled to about 5,000 when I picked up 10,10 in position. I raised it up and picked up one caller. The flop came 7,J,7 and I put a 2,400 chip bet in as I felt my pocket pair was good. Rob, the other player involved in the hand, re-raised me putting me all in and I knew that a wrong decision was me out of the door. I considered the hand and the pre-flop action and made the call. Rob showed Q,9 and my hand held. This was the turning point in the first session for me and I settled into my usual game. By the break I had 17,000 chips and was comfortable in the middle of the field and my confidence was high.

After the break the field thinned as the blinds increased however I managed to maintain my chip stack on or about average until the final table was formed (10 players). The final table saw me draw seat 1, which is my least favourite seat as I struggle to see seats 10 and 9. The first period of play on the final table was uneventful for me until I picked up pocket nine’s. I got it heads up against one player and the flop came low (I’m sorry I can’t remember the exact flop). The other player bet the flop and I re-raised strongly. The action moved again when he pushed ‘All-In’, a count of my chips revealed that if I made the call I would only be left with 800 chips out of my stack of 19,000 ish. I spend a minute or two considering the hand, the pre flop betting, the action that had occurred post flop and also the player who I was in the hand with. Once I had done this I called and the cards were turned over, I was right with the other player showing A rag. My nines held and I took down a 40,000 chip pot. This hand put me in second position and in a very strong position to achieve my objective which was to win a seat for the Main Event.

The field thinned to 5, the bubble, whilst there was a cash prize of £160 for 5th place every player at the table wanted the seat not the cash.

The final five players were Dave Jackson, Paul Murphy, Chris Michael, John Millar and me. The bubbled lasted for nearly 90 minutes and as the blinds increased it became push and fold poker for the short stacks. I just locked up as I knew that I could afford to play strong hands in position and maintain my stack, when I did enter a pot against one of the short stacks I ensured that my pre flop raise was strong enough that the short stack was playing for their tournament should they call. Eventually John Millar ended up as the unlucky player taking the 5th place.

I achieved my objective of winning a seat in the main event of the GukPT and the chance to play with some of the best players in the UK. During the evening I played the best poker of my life and have also demonstrated to myself that I can make big calls based on information and not ‘hero to zero’ calls.

In closing I want to say a hugh thank you to Alistair ‘The Fox’’ Findlay and all the other AWOP staff for putting this event on and I can now look forward to and plan my festival week.

4 November 2009

Ok so it’s a few days since I wrote a blog so I thought I’d try and update. I played on Sunday afternoon at the ‘G’, well I should say I attended rather than played. I don’t think I did anything wrong it was a case of being totally card dead and / or running into monster hands.

Monday evening I played in a regular home game with a group of friends, 2 x £6 tournaments. I really enjoy Monday evenings as it is a chance to relax, chat and play poker. Two of the girls are heading out to Las Vegas on Saturday so good luck Lisa and Lorraine!

Last night I played at the ‘G’ in Blackpool in the £30 double chance, 2 x 4000 chips. There were 49 players and my first 4000 chips went up and down like a bride’s nightie! I reached the break with 9,200 (including my second stack). I didn’t really pick up many big hands and after the break I struggled to build on my stack.

I managed to final table mainly due to checking my BB when down to 4,000 (blinds 800/1600) when I was holding 8,6 off suit against 2 limpers. The flop came 8,8,6 – giving me the top house. The other players missed the flop and the turn however I managed to pick up a call on the river when I pushed ‘All –In’ from Chris who was the chip leader by some margin who put me on the steal. This in effect more than doubled me through due to the third player’s limp and saw me to the final table of 10.

On the final table I was amongst the short stacks so initially set myself the goal of cashing (top 7). This I achieved eventually coming 6th however I did fold a pair of 8’s pre-flop as two other player’s were All In and the chip leader had called. Yes I know the value purists will say it was a poor fold as the pot value was there to make the call especially with a ‘made hand’. Remember I had set myself the goal of cashing and this fold allowed me to ladder up, as it turned out I would have been sent crashing out in 7th had I played. This could be important in the forth coming GukPT if I do manage to hit the cash payouts.

Tonight Wednesday 4th November I am one of 18 players taking part in the Final Satellite for one of 4 main event seats, I will update my blog on how I got on.

Entries: 49
Prize Pool: £1470
Position Name Prize
1 Christopher Michael £520
2 Robert Bright £340
3 Liam Dennehy £240
4 Anon £170
5 Anon £100
6 John David Hare £60
7 Paul Worsley £40

31 October 2009

After good nights sleep I decided to go the Blackpool G for the £100 buy in deep stack end of month tournament as I am not that experienced with large field tournaments that use running antes. As usual this tournament was well supported attracting a strong field of 173 players generating a prize fund of £17,300. The game went well for me in the early stages and whilst I did not have any major clashes I maintained my stack and was tracking the average well despite not really picking up and big hands. Obviously I wanted to get chips as best as I could however I was also aware that being a deep stack I needed to not ‘donk off’ chips as this would be very damaging in the later stages. The table was a mix of players from a total calling station to very experienced strong players. As with previous recent games I went prepared to play strongly in position with good starting hands but also looked for opportunities to take blinds where possible, this I did successfully and reached the break bang on average chips without any drama.

After the break the running antes started and through the next 3 levels I continued to play strong poker making some very good reads on other players and maintained my stack on or about the chip average. A new player joined the table following the unsurprising exit of the earlier mentioned calling station. I know this player from previous tournaments, a younger player who has more moves than a chess champion, who continually steals blinds raising with marginal hands. Over the next 4 orbits he raised my BB every hand but I was never holding anything I fancied making a stand with. By the next orbit the blinds were 600 / 1200 with a 75 chip running ante. As usual he went for his chips and looked at me, the obligatory 3,600 raise followed into an unopened pot. The rest of the table folded and I had already made my mind up that no matter what my hole cards were I was going to make a stand. The rest of the table folded and I looked down and saw J, 4 off suit. I called his bet having decided no matter what the flop came I was going to get in first and bet it strongly as I was confident he was raising with garbage (I do have a read on this player and this confirmed he was on ‘the steal’). The flop came a delicious Jack high and I raised it to 7,200 with him nearly burning the cloth as he quickly mucked his cards. Point made!, thank you for your donation of 3,600 chips.

Two orbits later I was on the button when I found 8,8. I raised it strongly and picked up a quick call from the small blind, having observed him for the last 5 hours of play I was confident that he was holding a big Ace but not a pair as he re-raised before the flop with pairs. The flop came 4,4,3, two hearts and he checked. I fired a strong bet at the pot, 7,200 and he re-raised putting me all in. I called immediately as I knew my pair was good and the cards went on their backs, I was spot on he showed A,Q suited in hearts. He was clearly surprised to see my 8,8, holding however as in many of these situations he had the last laugh when he hit runner, runner hearts to knock me out! (24% shot approx).

Ok so I was out but not down, my exit hand was the first I lost in 6 hours of poker, when I got my chips in I was a big favourite. Of course I was disappointed however the original field of 173 was down to 60+ and I had played very good poker throughout.

30 October 2009

Tonight I played at The Castle in Blackpool in the £30 5k +5k No Limit Texas Hold'em Double Chance Freezeout. Not a lot to say really except I played like a total donkey and crashed out 30 minutes before the break having never hit a hand all night. Well as the saying goes ‘that’s poker’.

Left the tournament and joined what can be described as a fairly ‘active’ cash table, cash is something I’ve got more into over the last 6 months and I do enjoy the game. It a great way of helping you make those ‘value’ calls. During the evening we were joined by three fairly ‘deep stacked’ cash players Alistair ‘The Fox’ Findlay, John ‘Backspinner’ Wood and an unknown called Paul. I stuck to my principle of only pulling up £40 and early on was rewarded when I doubled through twice in consecutive hands when I flopped trip Kings ( A,K hand holding) and then flopping the nuts house (4,3,3, board) when holding 4,4. After this great start the hands dried up a little until late on when I turned the nut house and then I picked up 3,3 on the button and due to my position I played it to a large pre flop raise. After the flop the board read A,6,3, both players bet into in and I decided it was time to push ‘All-In’ so stuck in £100 (pot already £100), both players called and my hand held, the other players holding A,Q and A,6. This put a nice glow on a poor night’s poker, plus a nice wad in the ‘back pocket!’

I am undecided what to play in tomorrow, there is the end of month £100 at the G which would give me great practice for the GukPT however after a heavy week I fancy a relaxing game at the Castle (£20 10,000 chips). I’ll decide when I wake up!

29 October 2009

Thursday evening and I’m playing at the G Blackpool. This game is now the game of the week as far as many, including myself are concerned, £40 No Limit Texas Holdem Triple Chance Freezeout(10,500 Chips). As with most weeks the game is well supported with 80+ players turning up, on looking round the room all the ‘usual suspects’ are in attendance, a real who’s who of local poker. There is a real buzz about the room tonight and everywhere people are discussing the GukPT which starts on 7 Nov.

I draw Table 5 Seat 3, I wander over to the table and sit down. The dealer’s seat is empty and the chip tray sat there denotes it’s a self deal table. The tournament starts, or should I say it starts on all the other tables, yup no offers to deal so as usual I end up in the dealer’s chair. The table contains many players I know and respect, Linton (Bean Flicker) Holling, Bill (you’ve got none of that) Eadie, Mick (Schoolbully) Tetlow, Enid Musson and after a few hands Nick Slade.

The first hand I win having flopped a set, taking it down on the turn, then the hands are uneventful apart from for Nick who looses a series of hands early on and takes both of his chances in quick succession. I manage to maintain my chips without really building on them, I do find it difficult to focus on playing when dealing however for other players I am putting real action boards out.

ACTION HAND

I’m not in this hand but three others are, Keith (seat 1), Bill (seat 5) and Nick (seat 8) – sorry I can’t remember where the button was however there has been pre-flop betting action with raise and call. The flop comes 9,9,10 and it ends up with Nick All in. Keith re-raises and Bill re-re-raises, Keith considers for a fair amount of time and eventually folds. Cards on their backs and Nick shows A,A and Bill shows quad 9’s, yup he’s flopped quads! Turn card no Ace – start the car, taxi for one front door! As a cautionary note to all that read this – I have dealt quads 3 times whilst in the chair, all of them on TABLE 5!

The break arrives and I have 9,600 chips, I’ve been fairly static to say the least but at least I’m still in and have enough chips to play. Following the break I deal for a short period of time and then thankfully as my chips dwindling (7,400) I am replaced by a house dealer. During the period after the break before being replaced as dealer I only pick up a couple of playable hands, one of which is 7,7, in early position. I raise it up and get re-raised by Linton, the rest of the table folds and after considering it I lay them down as I know Linton is unlikely to re-pop a pot I have raised without a monster hand.

The blinds are 400 / 800 and I’m now in seat 10, UTG I pick up A,A and raise it to 2000, hoping to get action from one player. The players fold to Enid who is in the BB, the chips all go in and cards on their backs, Enid shows 7,7, and my Aces hold. Shortly after I move to table 1 as our table is broken, my chip count is now 11,000 however the average is now in excess of 23,000 so I need a double up.

I pick up Q,Q in early position and put a strong raise in 1600 with 4800 (blinds 800/1600) and am immediately re-raised and re-re-raised by the next two players. I’ve committed more than 60% of my chips so make the call ‘All In’. Cards on their backs, with re-raiser showing A,Q and the re-re-raises showing 9,9. On seeing this I am happy, only 5 cards to dodge, the rest of the pack belongs to me! Out come the cards and out I go, for the second time tonight I see quad 9’s!

In summary a night where I did not do anything wrong but did not get many playable hands or got marginal hands in the wrong position, as I am trying to prepare for the GukPT I am not playing these marginal hands out of position as the type of player I am likely to face in the GukPT will make mincemeat of me, a sure way of donking off loads of chips!

28 October 2009

Tonight was my second and final attempt to play for a seat into the final for a chance to win a seat in the GukPT Main Event via the AWOP Satellite event. The format was the same as last week (£25 buy-in with add-on’s of £20).

As with last week the room was full with 20 players, most of whom I know from the Blackpool circuit. I lost my first set of chips (2000) when I pushed with 5,5 and got called by two over cards. From my experiences last week I knew I needed to win the 50-50 races early to build a decent chip stack during the buy-in period. Following this I lost again with another medium pair (8-8). At least this week I was picking up playable hands and it would be a matter of time before a couple held up. As with my recent play I was folding pre-flop rag Aces and other hands that have been getting me in trouble. During level 2 (30 minute clock) I picked up A,A and pushed All-In for the third time, this time I picked up two callers and my Aces held. This hand gave me a decent chip stack of over 10,000 and during the rest of the re-buy period I focused on low risk stack building. At the end of the buy-in period I had 16,000 chips and was well chipped up compared to most of the other players on my table.

During the short break in play I re-evaluated my play and using the knowledge gained from last weeks event I decided to once more only play premium hands in position as the short stacks would be looking to double through.

When play resumed, as I predicted, the short stacks had to resort to ‘All-in’ poker, I lost one race when I had 10,10 beaten by K,Q but I also won a couple of smaller pots to maintain my stack. I maintained my chip stack without really building on it and kept out of trouble until 10 players remained. The final table was fairly uneventful apart from the ‘bubble hand’ (6 seats available, 7 players left). This saw 3 players All-in with K,7 diamonds, against a medium A against A,A. The two players holding the A chopped the pot when the wheel showed and Mick exited in 7th with a cash saver.

Following this there was an interesting discussion about folding A,A pre-flop in this situation. Whilst the A,A could not be knocked out in this hand, loosing would have left the player short stacked in the event of the other two players chopping the pot. As usual when this topic is discussed opinions vary. Would I fold pre-flop? The answer is simple – it depends what is at stake in the circumstances and I would make my decision then and only then.

The final is to be played on 4th November at AWOP HQ with 12 players having qualified by right plus two more buying directly in.

Brian weebrick Clarke
Mick schoolbully Tetlow
Linton Holling
Carl Pickles
John The Viper Prescott
Gez Hilton
John Hare
Will McMurray
Tim France
Paul Murphy
Ste Haley
Joe Egerton

Direct buy-ins so far:-

John "riverasusual" Millar
Mick Ash

**UPDATE 30/10/09**

4 More players have bought directly in making a total of 18. This means there will be 4 Main Event seats to play for.

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Played at the ‘G’ Blackpool this evening in the £30 double chance freeze out. It started poorly when after 25 minutes of play I ‘donked off’ the last 2100 of my first 4000 chips with a poor call when holding the nut flush on a paired board with Danny, the other player, having hit the full house. This call annoyed me because I was aware that a house was possible on the paired board but still made the call.

I reloaded with the second 4000 chips and got my head down to go back to the poker that I had played during the weekend. By the break I had managed to get my stack back to 7,300, the average being 9,300, not a bad effort after such a poor start. The positive about the poor call being that it did not push me on tilt and that I managed to ‘get over it’ fairly quickly.

The field quickly thinned from the 42 that started and a table move found me on a table with a real mixture of different playing styles from loose to tight. I managed to increase my stack to 16,700 in part due to flopping trip Aces on my BB then checking it allowing a loose aggressive player fire into me and then he called my all in bet. Over the next 45 minutes I was disciplined and focused on playing hands in position, during this period of play I folded a series of small pairs pre flop and also numerous medium suited Aces as having to call a re-raise would have put me all in.

The blind increases dwindled my stake to slightly less than 10,000 (blinds 600 / 1200) when I found A,J diamonds in late position. I pushed with this ‘All In’ only to run into Q,Q. End of the night’s tournament when I failed to find the required Ace however I finished in 16th place.

The positive I took from tonight being my recovery from the early set back of a very poor call. It also allowed me to focus on good hands in position that will be required during the forthcoming GukPT. Hands I would normally limp with to see flops were mucked rather than called, as I am expecting limping to be punished during the GukPT so I am trying not to limp too much especially as the blinds increase.

Following my exit from the tournament I played a bit of cash poker and managed to ensure the evening was self financing finishing £50 up in cash.

Tomorrow evening I am involved in a 2 table £20 re-buy in an attempt to win a seat in a Super Satellite for the chance of a seat in the main event at the GukPT. Lets see what tomorrow brings!

Sunday 25 October 2009

OK today is another full day spent at the tables with both tournaments being at the ‘G’ Blackpool. The Sunday afternoon follows the same structure as the Saturday game, £15 buy in with one re-buy and one add on. I end up in the dealers chair until the break so this will test my powers of concentration fully. My game gets off to a slow start, which I don’t mind, as it allows me to focus and get my mental state right as I appreciate it may well be another long day. Half way through level 2 and still no playable cards when I pick up A, 7 suited diamonds on my BB. The table has no respect for pre fold raises so I just check my hand and see the flop. This comes Ah, Jd and 7h. I fire a bet having hit top and bottom pair due to the flush potential and UTG (seat 1) makes an immediate call. Two players to the turn, a none flushing card so I fire again, both these bets being good strong bets, player UTG immediately calls again. The river card once more is a none flushing one and I check. UTG check behind me and the card are on their backs with me loosing with top and bottom two pairs to his A, J. This hand has left me very short and a few hands later I push the rest of my first set of chips in with 8,8 in second position and loose to a call from two over cards. I reload (4,000) and slowly get eaten away with hands that are so ugly they carry an 18 certificate.

The break comes an goes, I take my add on of another 4000 but only have 6,700 chips in total and being card dead continues however I am determined to go as deep as I can and to ride out the spell of being card dead. The blinds increase to the 1200 / 600 level and I know I needs to find a hand to make a stand with. I am reasonably comfortable playing short stacked poker however it reaches the point on my BB when I only have 2100 left having posted the BB of 1200 (3300 chips in total), the chip average is now in excess of 13000. I look down and find 7,7. This is the hand to make my stand with, two limpers and then I push ‘All In’. One caller turns over two over cards so it’s a 50 50 race. First card out 7 and the hand ends with me hitting the house 7’s full of 5’s. Up to 9000 chips. Very next hand I push with 10,10 and again double through, I’m back in the game!

Players who are short stacked fall like flies and I reach the Final Table of 9 players with 45,000 chips from 288,000 chips in play. I am third in chips at this point and draw seat two, there are 3 short stacks on the table who quickly depart however my chips have dwindled away to 30,000. The bubble comes and goes, four players left and with the exception of the chip leader (95,000 approx) the other players are fairly evenly chipped up.


My BB and the blinds are 2000 / 4000, the chip leader raises my BB and the other players get out of the way, I look down and find Q,Q. I re-raise ‘All In’ and he calls. Cards on their backs and he shows A,K suited in diamonds. My Queens hold and I become the chip leader. A few hands later I take out a player who is short stacked when I find A Q suited in the BB and we are down to 3 players. My chip stack is now 175,000 and I have a healthy advantage but not sufficient to really bully the other players. Over the next 30 minutes I hit every flop hard and take pot after pot and build my chips to 230,000 as I take out the third placed player.

Heads Up. I have a commanding chip advantage and it last only about 15 minutes with all the chips going in with Bryan the other player pushing with K, 9 and me making a snap call with K, 10. The flop comes 10,9, rag, rag, rag and I take it down winning a healthy £510.

Sun, 25 Oct 2009

£15 No Limit Texas Holdem with 2 Rebuys
Entries: 32
Prize Pool: £1080

Position Name Prize
1 John Hare £510
2 Bryan Cook £300
3 Anon £160
4 Christine Laffin £110

Three final tables from three, happy days. Once more I have played good solid poker and made more good decisions than bad despite not really having hit big hands. Time for a quick 2 minutes and buy in for the evening £40 (4000 double chance) competition which is already underway.

Not a lot to report on the evening competition and I go out at 11.30pm having pushed with J,10 suited into an unopened pot from the button.

In summary I can say that the weekend was a great success and it has demonstrated that I can remain focused for the time I need for the long structure two day tournaments played on the GukPT. It has also enforced for me that my game is back where I need it to be to hopefully be able to compete. The bonus being the money I have won will allow me to free roll one of the bigger events in under three weeks time.

Saturday 24 October 2009

Ok its early on Sunday morning and I’ve just finished playing live. I decided that to try and prepare for the upcoming GukPT I needed ‘table time’ but more importantly I needed a long period sat playing poker. To achieve this I decided today to play two live events, the first one being the afternoon tournament at the ‘G’ and then follow this with the evening one at the Castle, both in Blackpool.

2pm the ‘G’ was a £15 buy in with one re-buy and one top up (4000 chips) 32 players. The first hand I picked up K 10 off suit and limped in UTG. The table was passive and the limp worked, the flop came K, 10, rag but there was a flush draw on the board so I bet the 2 pairs ensuring that flush had not pot odds to make the call (225 into 300 pot). Table folded back to the BB who had checked the flop and she called. I obviously put her on the flush draw looking for a free card, she called. I respect the caller as I have played many times with her and due to this I re-evaluated the hand holding as I suspected even in the first hand she would not be chasing the flush. The turn card came a non flushing card and the BB bet it (300 into 750). So I re-raised to 900, the BB considered the pot and made a good lay down putting me on two pairs. Throughout the re-buy period I made steady progress however I did use my re-buy and top up, intentionally ‘dumping off’ a small number of chips to facilitate this and went to the break with a stack of 9,300 (just below chip average). Through the next period of play I maintained the chip average without any great drama, but was playing tight controlled poker and was well disciplined in folding hands pre fold to ensure that a tight table image was maintained.

Spent my time observing closely the other players and this was rewarded in the late stages when an aggressive player who I had observed never limped into un-raised pots limped from early position. I looked down and saw Q,Q, the limp from this player alarmed me and also I noticed another player who was acting after me was already moving his stack for a re-raise so I folded. The other player re-raised the pot and got himself ‘pot stuck’ when the original player who had limped re-re- raised him ‘All In’. Cards on the backs with the original limper showing A,A. Great fold!

FINAL TABLE

Drew seat 10, I hate it as views of players 1 & 2 are restricted, but got my head down and got on with the game. Only 4 players to cash. I was above average stack but only in the middle of the pack as far as chips were concerned, time for more solid patient poker whilst looking for opportunities to maintain my position as I knew the short stacks would be pushing with less than premium hands, I was correct and quickly the table was down to 6 players. Ok so now my priority was to ensure that I cashed, but I was now the short stack but not on life support so I had a couple of orbits. The cards which had been indifferent ran good and I took the blinds down twice on 3 consecutive orbits thereby maintaining my stack. Another player goes and its ‘bubble time’, All In follows All In and each time the short stack survives to fight another hand until eventually the bubble bursts, happy days as its my first cash for over a month which is unusual for me. Ok I eventually go in 4th place but collect £90 for my trouble 100% profit on outlay.

Sat, 24 Oct 2009

£15 No Limit Texas Holdem with 1 Rebuy and 1 Add On
Entries: 28
Prize Pool: £915

Position Name Prize
1 Micheal Clarke £425
2 Trevor Haddick £260
3 Anon £140
4 John Hare £90

Start the car and drive over to The Castle for the 10,000 chip £20 game. I spend the 25 minute journey reflecting on my game and come to the conclusion it was just as I wanted it to be, solid ABC poker with few errors and some very good laydowns. The one fault being not maximizing the big pots, time to correct this! I arrive at The Castle at 8.05pm (ten minutes to spare). There are only 23 players so very little value in the pot however the cash is not as important as using the table time.

In the first two levels I make steady progress and move my stack from 10,000 to 16,000, but as before spend time observing the other players, on a positive note I do not loose a hand in these levels where I remain to see the turn card. A Table move sees me join the chip leader’s table and she is obviously running all over the table due to the wall of chips sat in front of her. I take a nice size pot down when I hit trip 10’s and a few hands later I raise my BB to 2200 (blinds 300 / 600) when I find A,J suited to 5 limpers. One caller so I’m out of position. I know little about this player other than what I have observed but he likes to see plenty of flops however I feel he tends to be passive post flop. I’m very mindful of being out of position post flop. The board comes 6 high and rainbow so I fire a continuation bet of 3200 having missed totally, I need to be the aggressor, he looks at his hand and folds rolling over A, K off suit saying you’ve got an over pair, my cards in the muck and say ‘good fold!’. This is great information as I know he firstly limps with A,K, and secondly can be bet off hands even when he has position.

20 minutes later I pick up J,J, and raise from mid position, the rest fold to the BB who immediately calls. The flop comes 10 high and she checks, I bet my J,J strongly and she re-raises me. I consider this re-raise and lay my J,J down as I believe she has either hit two pairs (unlikely due to the texture of the flop and pre-flop raise), more likely she has tripped up her pocket pair. I want the information and therefore, to send out a message to the other players, to enforce my table image I show my folded J,J saying ‘your trips are good’. The BB shows 10,10 so my read was spot on. The break comes and my chips are 14,400 still above chip average, a few players have departed and I feel happy with my game.

FINAL TABLE

Second final table of the day and I find myself mid chip count and draw seat 2, four players as fairly short stacked again and the ability of the players is fairly high. Time for more tight AB C poker whilst looking for opportunities. It goes well and I fold a succession of big-ish hands ( A, 8 suit to A, 10 off suit) and in the main I was correct to fold as I would have faced re-raises to All In pushes from the short stacks, the ‘radar’ is working well! The money bubble comes and goes (down to the final 3) and except for the chip leader who could do a sponsored walk along the wall of chips sat in front of her I am in second by some way to the short stack.

Key hand – I’m in the BB (blinds 2500 / 5000) I look down and see A 5 diamonds, the short stack pushed (another 12000 to call), the small blind announces ’I can’t call with this rubbish’ and folds. I make the call and the all in shows K,Q off suit. Flop comes K,Q 10 but only one diamond, So I need running diamonds / Aces or J for Broadway, no luck and I’m crippled. I got my chips in good! A few hands later I’m out in 3rd, another cash and the end of 12 hours of poker.

Objective achieved, I have cashed twice and more importantly I have played strong poker all day.

** No results uploaded onto AWOP **

Welcome

Hello there!

My name is John Hare aka Little John and this is my first attempt at blogging so please be gentle! I am a 51 yr old from Blackpool and love my poker. I am going to try and blog my experiences of playing this wonderfully frustrating game.

Four years ago I held the common belief that poker was a quick way of loosing my house, car, all my wages and savings on the turn of a card. One evening I was bored and was channel hopping when I found a programme called Poker Night Live (PNL) and out of boredom I started to watch. PNL ran hands from internet tournaments and these hands were summarized and discussed by studio experts. On this first visit I was bombarded with terms such as ‘position’ pot odds, ‘outdraws’, ‘bad beats’… the list seemed endless however there was something that appealed to me. The next evening I watched again and after this I became a regular viewer.

One evening, many months later, after a few days away I switched on only to find a blank screen, PNL was no more! In desperation I surfed the channels and found skypoker, to my surprise most of the ‘experts’ from PNL were there and the format was a similar one to PNL. I continued to watch, still not daring to take the plunge and open an online account. I did find however that my knowledge of poker was improving and I was able to read the boards and start to understand the importance of position and how it affected starting hand requirements.

I knew it was time to take the next step, I logged on and opened an account with skypoker, went to the lobby and found a single table sit and go for the princely sum of £1.15. With trembling hand I watched as the table opened and there I was playing poker. It seemed to be over in a flash, 40 minutes had passed and I came second, a profit on my first event. I felt like I’d won the WSOP!

I played online for the next couple of months but I knew I was missing out, I longed to play live, the face to face contact with other people, no protection of anonymity sat behind the pc. I enquired at the Castle Casino in Blackpool and found there were games played on several evenings of the week so I entered an event blindly, it was the Thursday evening crap shoot (£5 pot limit re-buy). Firstly I was sat with 9 other players, I’d never sat at a full ring table before. The dealer shuffled up and we were off, first cards dealt, I looked, phew, a pile of junk Q, 6 off suit, in the muck! The hand ended with 3 players ‘all in’ and a right bag of spanners won! Hang on I thought, where were the pot odds? How could these players call with rubbish? God they are all maniacs! I took a deep breath and thought, ‘Ok just play the game to your principles and see’. 30 minutes of folding my chips being eroded by the blinds but I still had 600 out of the starting stack of 1000, I’ve got the button and look down and find the daddy of starting hands ‘A,A’… happy days! Now we can play a hand of poker, my mind was racing, ok A,A what are the odds? Yes, its all there, ok so now lest get it heads up against one player, by the time Its me to act 4 players are ‘all in’. I knew my A,A could be a dog against multiple players but I had not played a hand so in the chips went. My hand held and the dealer pushed what seemed a big pile of chips in my direction to comments of ‘nice hand’. I smiled lamely and reached down to ‘stack’ the chips, damm! my hands would not work, I was shaking so much from adrenalin I could not physically stack the chips! Welcome to live poker! I finished 15th out of a field of 47, not a bad first live game. That was 2 ½ years ago and I like to think since then my game has improved.

I have cashed in the Castle poker league in the last 2 seasons, the Winter League via a 30 seat play off and the last Summer one by finishing 4th overall.